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The election of a new Pope apparently will set up an interesting meeting between the new Pope Francis, formerly Archbishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina, and Vice President Joe Biden, who finds no conflict between his professed Catholic faith and his advocacy of abortion, something Pope Francis has called the “Death Penalty for the Unborn”.

As a leader of Argentinian Catholics, Bergoglio helped steer the church away from essentially Marxism in the form of liberation theology. Liberation theology happens to be a linchpin in the thinking of Catholics who accept abortion as something moral. He has been seen as a ‘compassionate conservative’ and has shown an aptitude in bridging large philosophical divides. In Argentina he worked with Catholics and other Christians of Eastern traditions and even his name Francis, chosen in honor of the 11th century Catholic Saint, is an interesting choice for a Jesuit intellectual.

Abby Johnson is taking heat from the abortion industry for her work in helping abortion clinic workers do what she did and quit their jobs. She calls her work, “And Then There Were None”.

In other news, a party line vote in the U.S. Senate quickly sank the hopes of Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and rejected his attempt to defund ObamaCare for this fiscal year. And a healthy baby boy has been born after another fascinating heart surgery on the child at 23-weeks gestation.

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The Maryland Board of Physicians is now on record as conducting a preliminary investigation into abortionist LeRoy Carhart who presided over a failed abortion that killed woman after she apparently gave up trying to contact her doctor and went to a hospital emergency room. The investigation could take six months.
A letter demanding action from Maryland legislators has led to the discovery of another failed abortion ending in the death of the mother, this one in Baltimore. Another Maryland agency has suspended licenses of three surgical abortion clinics affiliated with abortion business owner Stephen Chase Brigham, apparently including this Baltimore abortion business.

The Health Care Conscience Rights Act is gaining support. The bill, introduced earlier this month by 66 members of the U.S. House, would essentially nullify the HHS rule written under the authority of ObamaCare which requires most any employer to provide pretty much anything to interdict pregnancy, even contraceptive drugs that cause abortions. The bishop overseeing the US Catholic bishops’ pro-life efforts is urging Congress to support the bill.

40 Days for Life has saved well over 300 babies from abortion over the last few weeks. The internationally coordinated effort of prayer and vigil at abortion clinics runs through March 24.

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Legislators in Maryland are asking why the abortion clinic is still open that killed a woman last month in a dangerous late-term botched abortion. Not only are they questioning why LeRoy Carhart’s Germantown abortion business was not shut down immediately, they are questioning why a previous complaint from last November did not prompt an investigation and inspection of the clinic before the death of Jennifer Morbelli. They ask what triggers a license suspension to protect the public if not a patient’s death.

The new Continuing Resolution designed to relieve automatic federal budget cuts required by law does not include the conscience protections against the Obama administrations HHS mandate for which pro-life advocates were hoping. Pro-life focus now turns to the Healthcare Conscience Rights Act for relief from the HHS-ObamaCare rules.

Court rulings allow for states to restrict abortion and while new legislation would add Texas to the list of states that restrict abortion by the pain inflicted during an abortion, Arkansas legislators, overriding a governor’s veto passed a law Wednesday restricting abortions to the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. If a heartbeat is detected, abortion is banned in Arkansas.

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A pro-life Congressman is calling his colleagues to insert into the country’s fiscal deadline an affirmation of conscience rights in accordance with the First Amendment of the Constitution. Representative Steve King of Iowa says conscience as a constitutional principle is not something to negotiate.

Meanwhile, in Washington State, pro-life advocates are calling a bill that would mandate abortion coverage in all maternity coverage plans the Conscience Coercion Act. Peggy O’Ban of Human Life of Washington says that since Quakers objected to military service, our nation has affirmed a right to freedom of conscience and that Washington state would be the only state to force employers to pay for abortion.

The pro-life movement has long endeavored to understand the complex emotional struggle behind a woman’s decision to continue or abort an unplanned pregnancy. The Vitae Foundation released in last week’s American Thinker an in-depth study of interest to anyone working with women in a pregnancy at risk of being interrupted by abortion. Utilizing cutting edge research, they found and quantified numerous difficulties faced and opened strategies to meet the needs of these women. More information is at Vitae Foundation dot org.

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As details of the woman who died an abortion-related death come forward, attention is being brought to the issue of women pressured to abort disabled babies. Jennifer Morbelli and her husband were looking forward to the birth of their baby girl when doctors discovered problems with the baby’s brain. The couple traveled from New York to the late-term abortion clinic of LeRoy Carhart in Maryland. An autopsy released shows the 33 year old teacher died of an amniotic embolism and widespread coagulation.

Other aspects of a state investigation include personal patient documents and other waste that may have been disposed of illegally. Some of the documents and references to protocols seem to call into question the care received at Carhart’s clinic. Tragically adding suspicions, some former employees of the abortionist say he frequently broke state health and medical laws in his Nebraska abortion business.

New curriculum touted by Planned Parenthood uses an interesting definition of abstinence. Abstinence in this curriculum refers not to abstinence but strictly to unprotected sex.
And a vote is scheduled in the Washington State House to require all insurance policies covering maternity to also pay for abortions. Debate begins at 9 AM Friday in Olympia.

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After failing to pay a $6000 fine for her seven-month pregnancy, Feng Jianmei was ambushed, beaten and dragged into a car which took her to a Shanxi Province, China clinic for a forced abortion. To get medical treatment and to avoid painful memories, eight months later, Feng and her husband are living in another city. Now, we discover, she still suffers medical and other effects from the abortion, has run up thousands in medical bills but, says Feng, “what we lost the most, we lost a baby.”

With the rise of prenatal testing, detection of so-called anomalies is spiking and, tragically, the solution given to most parents is simply “abort”. Recent news has given us not only tragic stories of lives lost and harmed, but heroic stories of parents who defied the presumed odds and now hold in their arms beautiful and very often entirely normal, healthy babies. There are numerous such stories at LifeNews.com.

In other news, pro-life advocates are pointing out during February’s Black History Month that part of that history in America includes 16 million black children dead from abortion. And a hearing Monday in Texas is to determine whether parents can pressure their teen daughter into an abortion.
…from www.LifeNews.com

Listen here for LifeNews Radio for February 15, 2013:20130215 LifeNews Radio Possible Investigation Hindrance-Rubio Legislation-Opinion Links-11Percent Overdose
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Former Kansas Governor and HHS Secretary Kathleen Sibelius may have significant ties to late-term abortionist LeRoy Carhart. As governor, Operation Rescue says she successfully turned back laws to regulate businesses like Dr. Carhart’s Kansas operations. They are concerned that she may do the same with the investigation into the death of Jennifer McKenna Morbelli. In related news, Operation Rescue has found evidence that Morbelli may have been told not to visit an emergency room.

Earlier this week, in his counter to the state of the union address by President Obama, Senator Marco Rubio articulated how the human person is an asset to a nation. He has now gone a step further, introducing to the U.S. Senate the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act that would stop secret interstate abortions on teenagers, notifying parents and criminalizing the transport of a minor across state lines to evade state parental notification laws.

In other news, A new survey makes a direct correlation between someone’s view regarding premarital sex and whether or not they are pro-abortion. And a new report from the CDC finds more women are using the radical hormone overdose known as the morning after pill; now about 11% of all women have used it.
…from www.LifeNews.com

The health concerns of Pope Benedict and the end of his term as the Bishop of Rome to enter a life of prayer may be interesting. But nothing is as interesting as how this man with great intellect clearly and repeatedly articulated Christian and even secular concerns over issues like abortion, assisted suicide, euthanasia and other bioethics topics.

Other stories at Life News-dot-com include an update on Kermit Gosnell, the Philadelphia-based abortion Doctor who is facing murder charges in the deaths of seven babies. Pro-lifers in Ireland are having to fight grossly distorted polls painting a rosy picture of abortion opinion there.

And in state news, Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe signed a ban on abortion funding in ObamaCare and a judge is forcing Arizona to fund Planned Parenthood despite legislative action there. Also, a measure in the Texas legislature is under fire: a national pro-life group says it would allow doctors the right to refuse giving CPR to patients.

A 29-year-old woman and her husband discovered that their pre-born child was suffering some anomalies, so they traveled to the clinic of Leroy Carhart near Washington DC and four days later both mother and child were dead. Family members told the hospital that abortionist Doctor Carhart failed to respond to their urgent phone calls. Troy Newman of Operation Rescue said, “The avoidable death of this young woman dramatically illustrates the dangers of third trimester abortions that are done outside of the safety of obstetrical standards.” The mother was a kindergarten teacher from New York State. Details are at LifeNews–dot–com.

Major media outlets are avoiding not only the tragic details of this story, but the apparently dangerous practice of late-term abortions. Despite offering a news conference in the Washington DC area detailing the situation, only one newspaper sent a reporter to get the news. There was… no Washington Post, Baltimore Sun, and no coverage from the networks or AP.

From the state was first to legalize abortion in the US, comes news that activists may be turning the tide. While one bill lingers near death in Washington State that would force all maternity health care coverage plans to also pay for abortion, another bill requiring parental notification before abortion is bringing large pro-life crowds to the state capital in Olympia in support of the pro-life measure.